


Omniscience of a Dead Man Living

by crowstrife



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Post Season Six
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 04:33:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14947671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowstrife/pseuds/crowstrife
Summary: Coming back from the dead couldn't be easy, they all know that, but Keith can't help but feel as though there's something different about Shiro, not necessarily something bad or wrong just different."To breathe no breath but feel your chest fill with stardust and just life in waves from the natural tides of creation and destruction. To come back to a body after that, it takes a little getting used to again.”





	Omniscience of a Dead Man Living

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this post I made on tumblr https://ifuckingloveshiro.tumblr.com/post/174946196948/okay-but-shiro-comes-back-to-life-but-its  
> this is my first voltron fic please be kind ;w;

Keith found him where he always did nowadays, laid back across the muzzle of the Black Lion on a cliff’s edge looking over the sand dunes where he’d taught Keith to ride his hoverbike; far enough from the Garrison they wouldn’t get in trouble but close enough he could get back quickly if he was needed. He almost felt bad for disturbing Shiro, he looked so peaceful staring up at the stars, but he seemed to look that way far more often since coming back to the living. 

He could feel the Black Lion’s hum as he approached and in turn could feel his paladin bond with Shiro. It was almost like a greeting in itself, he could feel the swell of warmth in his chest as Shiro acknowledged his approach and he could see his soft smile without even seeing his face. 

Keith smiled back, walking up behind him, “I thought I’d find you here.” His voice was soft from a hard days work as he sat cross-legged beside Shiro.

In return Shiro tore his gaze from the stars, sitting up a little straighter, “It’s nice out here, it’s nice to just come back to where it all started, y’know?” 

At first, Keith was puzzled, until he followed Shiro’s gaze across the expanse of sand before them. This is where they had found the Blue Lion, but it was also where Shiro’s ship had crashed, where he and Shiro had come to escape from the rules and regulations of the Garrison. 

Where he’d come to cry after the failure of the Kerberos mission and where he'd lived thereafter.

Regardless, Keith nodded and they sat in silence for a short while. Shiro’s eyes turned back to the clear sky above them and for the first time in a long time, Keith couldn’t tell what he was thinking about. 

“...Is everything… okay, Shiro?” He asked tentatively. The question was met with a pause as Shiro sat up from his reclined position.

“...What do you mean?”

Keith drew in a breath through his nose, he knew Shiro wasn’t a fan of talking about his troubles, that he didn’t want to burden others with his misgivings - and he could relate - but there was something different about his friend. Something he struggled to place. “I don’t really know… I just, it’s like something’s different? Something’s changed.” At Shiro’s concerned expression he threw up his hands, “Not like- not in a bad way, if anything it’s kinda nice to see you let yourself take a break… I just thought I’d ask, y’know? I just wanted to check.” 

Shiro smiled softly at him, it wasn’t often that Keith would ramble but on the occasions he did it reminded Shiro of the middle school kid he’d met all those years ago; so curious yet so nervous his questions would be shot down. “Honestly? I feel great.” He glanced down at his missing arm and ran his remaining hand through his silver hair, “Well, as great as can be expected… It was… strange, at first, to exist but not actually exist, if that makes sense? I had no limits, I could run for days, I could learn everything, I could see whole universes be born into existence by just… wanting to see it. The Black Lion’s knowledge, I… I just saw everything.”

With that Shiro’s eyes were back at the stars and Keith could feel his mouth hang open slightly. 

“I was everywhere, Keith, I could see Earth being made, I saw it die. I watched the universe grow and spin and collide and… it’s incredible. I felt everything, the Black Lion masters space and time and I was part of that. I can’t even describe what it’s like to weave between the gaps in space and time, to… to witness and to feel nothingness, true nothingness, just vast expanses of vacuum… and to feel everything, the creation of every star and planet and moon and every being, to breathe no breath but feel your chest fill with stardust and just life in waves from the natural tides of creation and destruction. To come back to a body after that, to be a part of the life I could feel humming through my bones, it’s just… it takes a little getting used to again.”

All Keith could do was stare, he couldn’t even begin to fathom the things Shiro had seen, to understand the experience of existing in every crevice of the universe all at once. He could feel a longing to return to the stars in his chest but it wasn’t his own. No wonder Shiro seemed a little distant, hell, he wondered how he was even able to be the same person at all after a year of being everyone and nothing. He wanted to reply, to ask a thousand questions, but all that came out was, “I... wow…”

Shiro gave him a big smile at that, “The Black Lion tells me it’s possible to have that connection to your lion without, y’know, dying, but it’ll take years and it’ll be different for each of us. Mine was only so…” He gestured vaguely with his remaining hand, and Keith could see what remained of his right arm moving with the gesture as well, “because the Black Lion oversees space. Yours is gonna be something entirely different.” With that, Keith could feel Shiro’s excitement for him, and he wasn’t sure if it was because he thought Keith’s experience was going to be incredible or if he was excited to have someone else understand what it was like. Either way, it was a warm feeling, filled with love and excitement. 

“That’s… That’s incredible, Shiro.” Keith said softly, “Have you told the others about this?” 

Shiro shook his head, “Not yet, you’re the first to ask. It’s not a secret, I just want to let them enjoy being back with their families for a while before dragging them back into training and magic. The Black Lion says before they can they’ll have to learn to look through their lion’s eyes anyway, we’ll start with that once the new castle ship comes a little closer to being able to fly. Until then, I think we’ve all earnt a little break.”

“A little break, huh? Does that mean no more training for a while?”

Immediately, Keith startled as Shiro’s bark of a laugh broke the peaceful atmosphere they’d created. “Aha… oh, you wish, we’ve got training at 12-6pm tomorrow.” He said jovially, rotating his whole body so he could slap Keith on the shoulder, “If you guys wanna train less frequently that’s fine, it just means I have to roll it all into one session.” 

Keith groaned, standing up and brushing the sand from the air off of his clothes. “Nevermind, you’re exactly the same, you’re still an ass.” 

Shiro smirked at Keith’s playfully sour tone, standing up to sling his arm over Keith’s shoulder as they began to walk, “Hey now, is that any way to talk to your commanding officer?”

“Oh my god, you know what nevermind,” Keith scoffed, throwing up his hands and Shiro’s arm off of him in one swift motion, “Forget I asked, you’re clearly fine.”

As he walked away he could hear Shiro laughing behind him and while the sound grew distant the further he walked, the joy in his chest remained.


End file.
